Trump and Erdogan ask the same question about the killing of Khashoggi: 'Where's the body?'

Twenty-four days after a team of Saudi agents killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, U.S. and Turkish officials are still asking the same question: Where's the body?

The remains of The Washington Post columnist are critical to vetting the shifting accounts of the Saudi government and determining a suitable punishment for the oil-rich monarchy, a key partner in the Trump administration's Middle East policy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified pressure on the Saudi government on Friday in a speech demanding Khashoggi's body.

"There has been a declaration that he has been killed, but where is the body?" Erdogan said. "You must show it."

For days, President Donald Trump has also been asking his aides about the body, but Washington remains in the dark about its whereabouts, according to U.S. officials and diplomats familiar with the situation.

Saudi officials said earlier this week that Khashoggi's body had been rolled into a carpet and given to a "local collaborator," but Turkish authorities say it was dismembered in a grisly operation involving a bone saw and large suitcases.

"Finding the body in whatever form it's in could give credence to Turkey's account," said Amanda Sloat, a Turkey scholar at the Brookings Institution. "If the body appears in the way the leaks suggest, it gives credence to the premeditated nature of this attack and reflects poorly on the Saudi regime."

On Thursday, CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed Trump about her recent trip to Turkey, where she listened to purported audio of Khashoggi's killing. But even after the meeting, U.S. officials made clear they needed additional information before taking further punitive action.

"We continue to seek all relevant facts in this case," said State Department spokesman Robert Palladino. "As we learn more we will take additional actions as the facts warrant."